Who will be named 2014-15 MVC Freshman of the Year?

by **MVCfans** » October 13th, 2014, 12:09 pm

Select the player that you believe will be named the 2014-15 Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year for men's basketball.

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by **BTbird** » October 14th, 2014, 7:41 am

Right now the vote is saying differently but if you believe the hype from some pretty good sources, Cunningham is going to be a beast in the MVC and it is an area of need for the BU. You would have to think he is the front runner on this one.

by **Redbird Recon** » October 17th, 2014, 10:26 am

I voted Cunningham.

Great skillset for a guy his size.

by **RoyalShock** » October 17th, 2014, 12:03 pm

If the reports from Shocker Madness are any indication, Rauno Nurger may need to be added to this list.

by **Wufan** » October 18th, 2014, 4:07 pm

RoyalShock wrote:If the reports from Shocker Madness are any indication, Rauno Nurger may need to be added to this list.

The Redbirds are definitely singing the praises of 21 year old freshman Teddy Hawkins. As impressed as I was with Nurger, I will bet Hawkins gets the minutes to and the stats this year. FWIW, I picked Kelly.

by **ShoxNAwe** » October 18th, 2014, 8:39 pm

RoyalShock wrote:If the reports from Shocker Madness are any indication, Rauno Nurger may need to be added to this list.

While Nurger was quite impressive, Marshall will be pissed or The Shockers will have had multiple injuries for a freshman to be counted on for that much productivity to compete with the stats of other freshmen around the league.

by **Wufan** » October 18th, 2014, 8:43 pm

ShoxNAwe wrote:
RoyalShock wrote:If the reports from Shocker Madness are any indication, Rauno Nurger may need to be added to this list.

While Nurger was quite impressive, Marshall will be pissed or The Shockers will have had multiple injuries for a freshman to be counted on for that much productivity to compete with the stats of other freshmen around the league.

Nurger showed some real flashes, but it was a 20 minute scrimmage and he played about 15 minutes. Hard to tell if he's going to dominate or if he just got hot.

I'm doubtful Marshall would be pissed if he had a 6-10 freshman capable of 20 mpg.

by **ShoxNAwe** » October 18th, 2014, 9:23 pm

Unless Nurger is LeBron , I bet Marshall expects the upperclassmen to lead the way.

by **CBB_Fan** » October 19th, 2014, 1:25 am

It is hard to tell, but in the short 20 minute scrimmage at Shocker Madness the two most productive players were Carter and Nurger. Carter scored 12 (on Nurger), while Nurger put up two 3PT shots and a dunk for 8 points while grabbing 4 boards. Both showed good shooting touch, but Nurger probably could have played better defense on Carter.

Most likely Nurger will have a more supporting role and will not average enough to beat freshmen that'll take on a heavier scoring load. However he is probably the best looking freshmen big I've seen for us in a long time, which makes sense considering his age (21) and background.

He looked good enough to be our starting PF, with Carter at center. Wakumota may start at center with Carter at PF if Marshall values his defense more than Nurger's offfense, which isn't unlikely. Nurger seems like the best bet to take over some of what Early provided for us though; all of his scoring came from pick plays with Fred. Early loved the pick'n'pop, and from what I've heard Nurger is probably to make use of that same play a lot in his career.

I'd consider him a longshot to win FoY, but he probably has slightly better odds than Kelly. I don't consider 7-8 points and 3-4 rebounds a game too unreasonable, and expect him to get 15-20 minutes at least.

by **Wufan** » October 19th, 2014, 5:40 am

ShoxNAwe wrote:Unless Nurger is LeBron , I bet Marshall expects the upperclassmen to lead the way.

What upperclassmen? The two brand new JUCOs who have also never played a minute of D-I basketball? The two that are less than 6 months older than Nurger? The two that haven't played against grown men in international competition?

WSU has four starters lined up for this year; VanVleet, Baker, Cotton, Carter. Carter can play either the 4 or the 5 which means that the best 4 or 5 will be the 5th starter. Beyond that, about 55 minutes have to be accounted for in the post, so at least one non-starter is going to get big minutes.

Here's the candidates for minutes in the post:

Bush Wamukota - 6`11, 232 junior (JUCO transfer): Learned to play basketball 3 years ago in Nigeria by watching NBA You-Tube clips. Good defensively. Decent offensively. Good hands.

Tevin Glass - 6-8, 206 junior (JUCO transfer): High motor athlete that strives in transition. Former top 150 high school recruit. Lacks strength in his lower body. Most effective around the rim.

Shaq Morris - 6-7, 261 freshman (red-shirt): Wide bodied and explosive! Potential All-MVC player but the effort does not match the skill/athleticism. Marshall made him ride a bike during Shocker Madness as disciplinary action for something. I am hopeful that he has an up and down freshman season, because if it is down he will be asked to leave. Too much to learn for it to be 100% positive this year.

Rashard Kelly - 6-7, 235 freshman (postgrad): Good athlete. Strong and aggressive. Understands his role and executes. There will be minutes for Rashard this year at the PF position. He will be a starter at WSU in the very near future.

Rauno Nurger - 6-10, 242 freshman (Post Grad): Moves well and has a real grasp on the euro game. Pick and roll and pick and pop will be dangerous. He plays with passion, but might play a little out of control. Needs to get stronger.

Evan Wessel - 6-4, 218 junior (red-shirt): Completely out of position at the 4. Due to the lack of experience however, he may spend some time there this season.